Editorial February 11, 1905 Issue

"Whom ye ignorantly worship"

John B. Willis

To determine the "hidden influence" of a life, one need but acquaint himself with the law which that life honors. Whether the homage be conscious or unconscious, we aid in the fulfilment of that law whose sovereignty we recognize, and its moral quality is invariably disclosed in the effects of our thinking.

At an early date in their experience most Christian Scientists awaken to a realization of the fact that, however worthy their conscious motive or instinctive impulse, they have, in truth, been giving effectiveness to the most cruel and unjust mortal laws by consenting to and declaring their authority and power; and the exceeding sinfulness of sin is revealed to them, as never before, when they perceive that it is constantly converting human sympathy and would—be kindness into instruments of torture, and of death perchance, for those most tenderly loved.

All thoughtful people recognize the causal relation, in human belief, of the laws of heredity, contagion, decrepitude, the incurability of disease, etc., to human sorrow and suffering. All know that, by their heartless and unjust edicts, the little ones have been beaten with many stripes and the aged burdened with a weight of woe; that their rule has defeated hope, shattered faith, dried up the fountains of joy, and filled the centuries with the outcries of agony. And yet men have not simply tolerated the outrage of these impositions, they have insistently affirmed the legitimacy of their sway and the inevitableness of their scourge. More than this, Christian people have dignified their rule by recognizing it as an ordering of nature, even a part of the divine provision, and under these circumstances is it any wonder if many have questioned the lovableness of a God who is thus accredited?

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